Spirit of Wisdom
Proverbs 23:12 NIV teaches us, saying, “Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.” Can you receive this word of wisdom today? As you read this verse, what stirs in your heart? How does this truth resonate with you and reveal a desire to know the ways of God?
Wisdom is an essential way of the kingdom of God because Christ himself is the manifestation of the Spirit of Wisdom. Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 11 that Christ Jesus would bear the Spirit of Wisdom, and Revelation 7 affirms it when heaven praises the risen Lord with the blessing of all wisdom.
For a moment, shift your perspective of wisdom away from being just a collection of good ideas to beholding the character of God.
In this case, wisdom is an unsearchable mystery. It’s a gift we possess without ever fully understanding. It’s an ever-increasing capacity to be like God that flows from communion with God. Proverbs 2:6 NIV says, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
We can’t grow in wisdom until we put our ear to the voice of God and receive his instruction and guidance. We can’t live a life of kingdom understanding and knowledge until we find ourselves daily in the presence of God. From this place of seeking and responding, we grow daily in the wisdom of God.
So many desirable things are simply found in the presence of God. It’s tempting to become a self-made believer, and plenty of people will try to offer you such a path. But the overflow of the work of the Spirit always outpaces our efforts to build ourselves up. Where our focus can be on one or maybe a few things (if we are especially diligent), God’s work is multifold.
He produces wisdom alongside peace. Joy alongside patience. Gentleness with self-control. All these things are evidence of the Spirit’s work in our hearts when they rise up together.
When we see this invitation to seek and find wisdom, it’s another reminder to live our lives connected to the vine of Christ. It’s another door to a life of blessing in the Spirit and another reminder that a life of freedom is found in the truth of God’s word.
